If You Asked Me To
by Rionell
Summary: A little piece of fluff based on the song If You Asked Me To by Celine Dion. Severus Snape and Hermione are two lonely souls. Could a dance be of any help?


Author's Note: It's been ages since I wrote anything at all, so be nice :) Also, the characters are of course not mine, I just borrow them for a moment to play. The song is not mine either, unfortunately, but I thought it suited this lovely couple quite nicely. I'm surprised no one's used it before.

Also, English is not my native language so I apologise now for the mistakes I will no doubt make. :)

*

The Halloween rain played its soothing gun fire music on the tall windows of Hogwarts while something with lots of red hair eagerly studied a thick book in the Library. There was a silence filled with magic around the woman, for it was indeed a woman. Professor Hermione Granger, to be precise.

Historical dates and persons filled her mind, spells and exercises for her students to try out flew like ghostly whispers through her thoughts. There was rarely anything on Hermione's mind other than work related matters. She had made sure of that.

_Used to be that I believed in something_

_Used to be that I believed in love_

_It's been a long time since I've had that feeling_

_I could love someone_

_I could trust someone _

Her colleagues often wondered to themselves why such a clever person like Hermione always seemed to prefer sitting alone with a book rather than going out, or spending time with someone else for a few minutes more than what an every day conversation usually lasted. But Hermione never thought of herself as lonely or isolated; in fact, she barely thought about it at all. She didn't see the need for any male company in her life at the moment, she had had enough of that during her years as a student.

Furthermore, a solitary, whole heart was better than one left in shards.

_I said I'd never let nobody near my heart again_

_I said I'd never let nobody in_

She closed the book after a while and brought it back to its place on one of the thousands of shelves surrounding her. It was dinner time, and her belly had started making all kinds of noises.

The Great Hall was decorated beautifully. Quite realistic paper bats fluttered about, enormous pumpkin lanterns floated a few meters above the floor and a thin mist enveloped the students, but not so much that they couldn't see the multitude of food in front of them. Hermione sat down next to Professor Flitwick and managed to say "hello" before she started eating.

She didn't notice the pair of December night eyes looking at her from the end of the table.

*

Severus Snape, the terror of the dungeons, was unaware of the fact that he had been staring at the new teacher until a paper bat flew right into his head. Quickly he turned back to focusing on his dinner, and somehow managed to keep himself from ripping the paper bat to shreds. Luckily, no one had noticed.

Snape didn't enjoy Halloween. Of course, there were a lot of holidays that he didn't care for, but this one always brought back so many memories. The evening of the dead... All the souls of the ones he had killed would be remembered by someone tonight. How many curses would be whispered in connection with his name?

To make matters worse, the old man insisted that all the teachers be present at the annual Halloween dance. This annoyed Snape. Why did he have to be there, he wasn't going to dance and he certainly was no fine company either. Ever year there seemed to be an invisible wall around him during these dances, as if he was standing inside a dark bubble of shadows.

And he liked it that way.

_I said I'd never let nobody get to close to me_

_I said I needed to be free_

Independence was what he desired most out of life. Voldemort was gone and Snape was finally free. No more spying, no more having to fear for his life at every turn of events. He wanted to spend his days teaching and keeping as low a profile as possible.

So why was it so difficult for him to keep himself from staring at miss Granger?

*

The dance was in full sway and every single student in Hogwarts seemed to be present. Dresses in all kinds of colours swirled about in the Great Hall, and everyone had to step aside for a moment when Hagrid effectively cleared the space around him along with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem to mind the giant ground's keeper tossing her about. In fact, Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had seen such a big smile on the woman's lips.

She herself had just danced with Dumbledore and was now standing by the absurdely large punch bowl. She got a glass filled with the blood red drink and turned around to find herself bumping into a brick wall dressed in black.

"Sorry", she started, and gasped when she realised that she had spilled her punch all over Professor Snape. He looked at her with a gaze in his eyes which she could not name.

"Oh, Professor Snape, I'm truly sorry", she said.

"I suspect you rather liked that, miss Granger", he said and started drying his clothes by aiming his wand at himself and letting a stream of hot air come from it.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean that I do believe a few students are envious of you at this moment. You're lucky I can't take away points from you anymore."

Hermione almost laughed. He would simply never change.

Severus watched her smile at him and felt something go _pling_ inside. Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous...

"Professor, I do apologise once more. Would you dance with me?"

_If you asked me to_

_I just might change my mind_

_And let you in my life forever_

Snape looked as if someone had just given him a difficult math problem to solve. Luckily his mind didn't need to do much. He suddenly felt his feet following Hermione out on the dance floor. The students next to them scurried away, creating a clearing for him and Hermione in the middle of the crowd.

She smiled again and took his hand. He was surprised to find his own arm around her a few seconds later.

'What am I doing?' he thought. But then she started to move and he had to quickly remember how to use his two feet.

None of them were a brilliant dancer, but from his place by the punch table Dumbledore noticed a faint gleam surrounding the two darkly clad professors as they stumbled their way across the floor. He raised his glass to them.

Snape looked for something to say.

"I didn't know you danced, miss Granger."

"I don't, but it's worth it just to see the look on your face," she replied. She regretted it at once after saying it, he would leave now for sure. But instead he just gave her a smirk.

Why wasn't he leaving, anyway?

_Somehow ever since I've been around you_

_Can't go back to being on my own_

_Can't help feeling since I've found you_

_That I've found my home_

_That I'm finally home_

There was someting in her eyes. He felt his heart beat a little faster within him, he needed to look deeper into those eyes and find out more. About himself, about her.

His hand was warm, that was what had struck her first. She had expected it to be cold, almost ciy, but it was warm, strong and soft. And those eyes... How often had she not seen those eyes filled with anger and annoyance. Not until now had she noticed how beautiful they were.

None of them seemed to notice that Snape suddenly held Hermione a little bit closer than before.

*

The rain had stopped by the time the dance was over and the students headed back to their dormitories. Hermione wished the other teachers a good night and had just left the doors of the Great Hall behind her when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Miss Granger?"

She turned around to see Snape standing behind her.

"Yes, mister Snape?"

"I'd prefer Professor, if you don't mind."

"Me too, since that is my title these days."

'Touché', he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry, miss... Professor Granger." She smiled.

"Was there... anything else?" she said.

"Yes... May I... escort you to your rooms?"

_If you asked me to_

_I just might change my mind_

_And let you in my life forever _

Once again their eyes met. Hermione thought she heard a _bang_ somewhere inside her soul.

Not fully understanding why, she said: "I'd be delighted."


End file.
